knitting in circles

[watervole]

Making progress.  I have now mastered the art of knitting with four needles in a circle, as testified to by a centimetre of ribbing.

I'm still using my scrap wool.  I want to see if I can follow the instructions for turning a heel before I go into my nicer wool.

One problem.  The pattern tells me to use 44 [52,56,64,68] stitches for the leg, but gives no clue as to what size of actual leg these are likely to fit.  It gives details for length of foot and length of leg, but no clues as to circumference of leg.

does anyone have suggestions for what circumference of leg sock patterns typically cater for.

Comments

[rockwell-666.livejournal.com]

If you have any knitted socks that fit you could try counting the stitches on those to get some idea of what size is needed.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Different wool thickness and needle size. (Can tell you've never knitted!)

[sammason.livejournal.com]

It will depend on your tension.

[rockwell-666.livejournal.com]

Actually I have!

Admittedly it was about 37 years ago...

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

What is the tension for the pattern you are knitting, eg 20 stitches and 15 rows to four inches. Find out how many stitches to the inch divide the number of stitches you are told to use by this and that will be the circumference of your circle. Measure the part of the leg the top is supposed to go round and you will then know what number of stitches you need to knit with.

[sammason.livejournal.com]

What she said. Also, if your tension is different from the required one, the easiest way to fix that is to change your needle size.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I'll give that a try, though I'm not sure how stretchy the ribbing is meant to be, if you see what I mean.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

I hate knitting tension squares, but they are a necessary evil.

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

Could you compare, say, 10 of your stitches with 10 of a sock that fits?

[watervole.livejournal.com]

Differences in the pattern and wool thickness make that impratical. I haven't knitted a sock before, so I've nothing to compare with that uses the thicker wool used for hand-knitted socks.

[linda-joyce.livejournal.com]

Not terribly, is the only answer I can give you, it is supposed to grip the leg without cutting off the circulation but firmly enough to hold up if they are knee highs. Work it out then knit about an inch in your good yarn cast off and try it on. don't pull the wool to tight when you finish off the cast off and don't cut it then you can undo and start again.